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Friday, 21 December 2012

Kailash Mansrovar Pilgrimage – A Yatri Recount

Devout Hindus or ardent travelers of Indian origin staying in
India or abroad who are fond of traveling to destination ofIndian Himalayas will most likely aspire to
have one trip to the mystic Kailash – Mansarovar in their lifetime. Needless to
say I fall in the same category; yet I have no pretensions of having visited
those awe inspiring places but when my friend Sachin Vaidya narrated his
experience of his visit, I thought it
was worthwhile presenting it in form of a blog for the benefit of readers of my
blog subject ‘Destinations In Indian Himalayas.’Although the destinations are in Tibet and
one needs a Chinese visa for the visit, it has been included in my blog with
separate internal page titled ‘Mystic Himalayas.’

It is worthwhile having a few words on the basic faith and
beliefs among the ardent Hindus on Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar.

Mt. Kailash

Mt. Kailash
is a black colored snow splattered pyramid shaped rock mass in Trans-Himalayas in
Tibet rising to 22,000’. Hindus believe that it is Lord Shiva’s abode and a
place of eternal bliss. For them to make arduous pilgrimage to Kailash and have
the darshan of Lord Shiva’s abode is to release them from clutches of ignorance
and delusion. Bons, Buddhists and Jains also give Mt. Kailash a dominant place
in their religion.Sources of many of
the principal rivers like Brahmaputra, Indus, Sutlej and many others nurturing
planes of India have their origin near Mt. Kailash.

Lake Mansarovar

Legend has
it, Mansarovar was created by Lord Brahma ‘The Creator.’ A holy lake in Trans-Himalayas,
Lake Mansarovar is abode of purity, the journey of which is undertaken by
devout Hindus and adventurous travelers when they visit Mt. Kailash. A dip into
this lake is very reverently taken by pilgrims; the water is believed to purify
the human soul from sins from many births. The lake situated at 14,950’ is said
to be one of the highest fresh water lakes in the world.

The Geographic Location

Both Mt.
Kailash and Lake Mansarovar are located in Tibet region of Trans-Himalayas with
heights ranging from 13,000’ to 18,000’ with parched plains devoid of any
vegetation with barren and craggy mountains. The air is rarified in such high altitudes
with oxygen content being less and hence the pilgrims need to be physically
healthy and mentally prepared to combat any type high altitude sickness if at
all they have to face. The circumambulation also called Parikrama of Mt. Kailash is undertaken by pilgrims through the mountain
trek trail either on foot or on horses.

The Tour Management

The Kailash
Mansarovar tour can be a Govt. of India organized or private travel company
package tour. The Government of India organizes the Yatra every year of 28-30
days duration. The Yatra has to be booked in advance and the Yatris undergo a
strict medical check-up prior to acceptannce. Due to a large number of
applicants, only about 400 are selected by draw of lots subject to medical
clearance. There are plethora of private travel companies who do online booking
for this Yatra which can be of 12 to 16
days duration. Typically one flies to Kathmandu and from there crossing China
border (Tibet region) by road in Landrover vehicle. All the permits and China
visa is arranged by tour companies. The parikrama of Mt. Kailash is left to the
individual yatris. A first-hand experience of my friend Sachin Vaidya, who
visited the places in summer of 2009 gives an insight to the whole journey
undertaken from a private tour company. The conversation between Sachin, Anand and
myself is reproduced below. The photographs clicked by Sachin finds its place
after the text.

The Conversation

As we sit comfortably on katta of Shivaji Park maidan, Sachin
recounts his experience as a high altitude trekker, with reference to Kailash –
Mansarovar Yatra, in a question and answer session as follows :

Trekline: Sachin, among your
high altitude trekking tours, which one would you rank as your best.

Sachin : Pradyot, I would rank my
tour of Kailash – Mansarovar Yatra which I undertook in May 2009, as my
best. On that tour, during the Kailash Parvat parikrama, we trekked
through 18,600’ height at Dolma Pass.

Trekline: Tell us the kind of
preparations you made for this trip.

Sachin: We had to carry flask for
warm water, good warm cloths and some eatables which are not actually required
as they are taken care of by tour operators. I am talking about commercial tour
operators for pilgrimage to Kailash – Mansarovar, not the Governemnt arranged
pilgrimage, which requires much more preparation.

Dr. Anand Amembal: What was the
itinerary of your trip in brief?

Sachin: Anand, I took the commercial
tour which we were told was 17 days from Mumbai to Mumbai. But they cut short
one day and informed us just before departure. There was supposed to be one
free day at Kathmandu during onward journey, and another free day at the same
place during return journey. The actual China border from Kathmandu is
half days journey by jeep. When we arrived in Tibet it was very cold but
manageable.

Trekline: Sorry to interrupt
you….

Anand: How did you start from
Mumbai?

Sachin: By flight from Mumbai to
Delhi and another one from Delhi to Kathmandu. We reached Kathmandu by
afternoon where we were served lunch. Tour operators gave us a check list of
all the items to be carried for onward journey to Kailash - Mansarovar. We were
told to keep the luggage ready for inspection which we did by spreading out our
luggage on floor. If they found any item not up to the mark or were deficient,
we were told to buy them from local market. There was local sight- seeing tour
like Pashupatinath temple, Boodha Neelkanth Temple, and some other
temples. The specialty of Boodha Neelkanth Temple - Lord Vishnu is seen in
a prone position on water. The devotees consist of both Hindus and Buddhists. Next
morning, there was a sight-seeing of Everest and Annapurna ranges by aeroplane
at extra cost. About 80% of tourists availed of the opportunity.

Anand: What were the charges for the
aeroplane trip?

Sachin: I do not remember.

Anand: Around Rs. 1000/-, I guess.

Sachin: No, I think it was more.

Anand: I think it was one hours
flight.

Sachin: Yes. But, I did not
avail of it. May be in future I will make that trip, when I go there again for
Everest base camp trek.

Trekline: So, the first afternoon
and second day morning went in sight-seeing. What did you do in the second day
afternoon?

Sachin: We stayed at Hotel
Vaishali at Kathmandu Thamel area. Let me tell, those who have not stayed
at that area, it is a heaven for shoppers for mountaineering and trekking
goods. There are few dozen shops selling mountaineering and trekking
equipments. We did heavy bargaining and shopping and enjoyed that
evening. Normally I avoid shopping when I travel, but here I could not
resist it.

Trekline: What did you do on third
day onwards?

Sachin: On third day morning we went
by bus from hotel to Tibet border which is also called Kodari border. There all
the immigration formalities were carried out. At that time because of Swine flu
scare everybody had to pass through thermal sensors, where body temperature was
checked. If there was any buzzer alarm, one had to cool down and re-enter for
the check. I had to make three trips though the sensor area before getting clearance.
Fortunately everybody was cleared and that took a few hours. Next foreign
exchange was provided to us by the tour company.

Trekline: How much foreign exchange
was provided?

Sachin: I do not remember exactly.
We were told to bring Rs. 25,000/- in Indian currency. We were given equivalent
Chinese Yuan by the agent recommended by our tour company, in a dhaba like
restaurant near Kodari border. Here I would like to point out, our
Kathmandu hotel manager and a lot of other agents at border area offered
us Chinese currency at attractive rates than that offered by our tour
operators. But we were wary of being duped with counterfeit currency, hence did
not avail of it. While returning also we had to reconvert our currency
with the same recommended agent.

Trekline : So, by afternoon you
crossed the border?

Sachin: It was evening actually,
when we were through with theborder. Then we got into a jeep, I do not remember the name.

Anand: Must be Landrover or
Landcruiser.

Sachin: Yes. We were asked to make
into groups for each vehicle. It did not really matter to me, which ever group
I was part of.

Trekline: Tell us about your jeep
journey.

Sachin: We were told to shut the
windows of Landrover because of heat and dust. Of course, the evenings were
quite cold. The topography on the journey is that of desert even more than that
of Ladakh. Ladakh has atleast some greenery, here only grass of couple of
inches in height.

Trekline: How many hours jeep ride
you had?

Sachin: We travelled for nearly four days
intermittently because of road being repaired in Tibet in various places. We had
three night halts in between before reaching Mansarovar. We traveled between heights
ranging between 12,000’ to 17,000’. There is no proper acclimatization in
commercial tours and head ache is very common. Actually I developed some
health problem (dehydration), but did not take any medicines as such, just
drank a lot of water. That seemed to work.

Trekline: Tell us something about
Kailash Parikrama.

Sachin: Some go on foot, some take
horses for doing the Parikrama. There are night halt facilities in tents. Since
it was not peak season, we could get guest houses easily. Guest houses in
reality means rooms and beds. No toilets, no wash basins. In Mansarovar area we
were lucky to get a hotel.

Tekline: What about rescheduling of
itinerary?

Sachin: I had booked with the
commercial operator for the first batch, but was postponed and was taken in as
per itinerary of second batch. Actually the Tibet Government announces the date
of KM Yatra and hence rescheduling happens. Which-ever tour company services
you avail of, better to keep 3 days before and 3 days after the scheduled
itinerary free from any commitments, because of rescheduling.

Trekline: Parikrama is of how many
days?

Sachin: Let me tell you, only
walking Parikrama is of three days, you can call it two and half days, since
third day we walked for half a day. First day parikrama trekking was ok.
The second day prikrama trek was most grueling, we had to walk and walk, at
Dolma Pass it was 18,600’ above sea level, the highest point we encountered.
Major problem was we were not given any guide. There were a few Chinese guides,
but only for namesake, they could not furnish important information relevant to
tourists. There is a map which shows the trek route, but can not say about the
distance we walked.

Trekline: How many hours you walked?

Sachin: Before first days trek, we
were in tent at 17,000’ altitude and nearby there was a frozen river.
Temperature at night must have been below zero. It was a very windy weather; we
had to cover our ears, even if for a second we opened our monkey caps or
scarves, it would start paining. We woke up early at 3 AM IST for parikrama.
First day we walked 7 hours, second day we walked 10 hours.

Trekline: Paikrama can be done by
walking or on horseback. What about palki?

Sachin : Palki is not available
at all. There is no guarantee that horses will be available. Even if you get a horse,
you have to get down a number of times and walk, if the terrain is slippery.

Trekline: Did you have to walk over
ice?

Sachin: Only at Dolma Pass. July
August is ideal time when snow will not be there and it will be less cold. But
due to crowd and facilities being inadequate, one has to mostly stay in tents,
because all the guest houses will be booked.

Trekline: How about third day’s
trek?

Sachin: It was quite ok. Not very
tough. We were actually descending. Even after three day’s of
parikrama, nobody can tell whether we have done 100% parikrama of Kailash -
Mansarovar.

Trekline: When did you find the
best view of Kailash.

Sachin: Kailash is at its best when viewed during sunrise.
But those who trekked, missed it because of timing. Those who did not continue
parikrama on the second day and returned back from where we started on the
first day, could see the view of golden Kailash. During trekking most of the
time Kailash is not visible. There is another parikrama called inner parikama,
which is done by hard core trekkers, who actually travel along the base of
mountain or inner circle. What I have read in newspaper that pilgrims can go
and touch the base of the mountain during parikrama. But, we were neither told
nor allowed to touch the base of mountain. I do not know which tour
company or Govt. of India tour takes care of that. Our return journey was by
the same route via Kathmandu. Since the tour company cut short the tour by a
day, we had to catch the flight without any break at Kathmandu.

6 comments:

Truly stunning ur article and i like it very much because the description was very realistic. I like these picture a lot. Thank you for sharing. Useful article to me because my family are planing to visit Mansrovar. Thanks for sharing. See more information about Nearest places to Mansrovar .

I have visited various destinations, but whenever i read your blog, my senses are left spell bound for a minute and i'm forced to go weave the imaginative cob webs in my mind. I liked your blog and would like you to explore more on Hindu Pilgrimage Tours.